Karunanidhi's memorable punchlines in politics

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M Karunanidhi, the former Tamil Nadu chief minister, earned his nickname Kalaignar for his talent in the field of art, particularly storytelling in films and poetry. Kalaignar means an artist or a scholar of art. Karunanidhi preferred to be addressed as Dr Kalaignar. Karunanidhi made his reputation through his films and storytelling, and carried his penchant for punch lines to politics.

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I Live With My Daughter's Mother, 1969: Karunanidhi married three women - Padmavathi, Dayalu and Rajathi. After, Padmavathi's in 1948, his parents chose Dayalu as his next wife. He married Rajathi in 1960s. Dayalu lived at Gopalapuram while Rajathi stayed at Oliver Road in Chennai. Karunanidhi divided his time between the two houses.
Karunanidhi had become chief minister of Tamil Nadu in 1969 after the death of CN Annadurai. To embarrass the new CM Karunanidhi, the Opposition leaders asked him in Tamil Nadu Assembly who he lived with at Oliver Road.
Without hesitating Karunanidhi replied in Assembly: "My daughter Kanimozhi's mother."
Rajathi was not officially mentioned as his wife. Kanimozhi was born in 1968. Karunanidhi set the record straight.

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I Know My Height, 1997: Karunanidhi was the longest serving legislator in India. He won 13 Assembly elections. But he never thought of shifting from Chennai to New Delhi. There is an interesting story when he was offered to take charge as the prime minister after Deve Gowda government fell in 1997.
Some leaders of the National Front - the ruling coalition - approached Karunanidhi asking him to take reins in his hands in New Delhi. Karunanidhi ended the discussion and all surrounding speculations with a one-liner: I know my height.

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Will Not Cheat Even Jayalalithaa, 2001: While the coalition politics stabilised in New Delhi under Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA, Tamil Nadu went to the polls in 2001. Jayalalithaa had been convicted of corruption in TANSI land case. Out of jail, Jayalalithaa was seeking sympathy vote accusing Karunanidhi of political vendetta.
At an election campaign in 2001, Karunanidhi said this: Who asked her to buy the TANSI land when she was in power? Had she consulted me, as a former chief minister I would have advised her not to buy the government land. See, I am not a person who will cheat even Jayalalithaa.

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Aram Vellum, 2001: Karunanidhi was known to have the knack of presenting his best even in the worst of times. The mid-night arrest of Karunanidhi by the Jayalalithaa government, which came to power in May 2001, was perhaps the worst moment for Kalaignar.
A bunch of policemen, who had previously served under his government, dragged Karunanidhi out of his house in Chennai in a mid-night raid to police van. The video footage splashed all over television showed huge commotion at the time of his arrest.
But while Karunanidhi was being dragged, he grabbed the notebook from a reporter and scribbled: Aram vellum meaning truth shall triumph. These are the iconic words from ancient Indian scripture, Mundaka Upanishad. The Sanskrit version says Satyameva Jayate.

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Bill Gates Wants To Borrow Money From Me, 2005: Another interesting one-liner of Karunanidhi came off in 2005. Microsoft founder and billionaire Bill Gates had come to India in 2005. He met various leaders from business and politics. Bill Gates also met Karunanidhi.
After his meeting with Bill Gates, journalists asked Karunanidhi what they discussed for half-an-hour. Karunanidhi replied, "He had come to borrow some money from me."

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Was Ram An Engineer? 2007: Karunanidhi was an atheist. In 2007, he created a huge ruckus with his comments on Lord Ram. It was the time when Ram Sethu controversy was raging. Karunanidhi was in favour of the Sethu Samundram project. It required building a tunnel through what many believe was a bridge built by Lord Ram's army on their way to Sri Lanka during Ramayana age. They opposed the move.

M Karunanidhi, the former Tamil Nadu chief minister, earned his nickname Kalaignar for his talent in the field of art, particularly storytelling in films and poetry. Kalaignar means an artist or a scholar of art. Karunanidhi preferred to be addressed as Dr Kalaignar. Karunanidhi made his reputation through his films and storytelling, and carried his penchant for punch lines to politics.

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I Live With My Daughter's Mother, 1969: Karunanidhi married three women - Padmavathi, Dayalu and Rajathi. After, Padmavathi's in 1948, his parents chose Dayalu as his next wife. He married Rajathi in 1960s. Dayalu lived at Gopalapuram while Rajathi stayed at Oliver Road in Chennai. Karunanidhi divided his time between the two houses.
Karunanidhi had become chief minister of Tamil Nadu in 1969 after the death of CN Annadurai. To embarrass the new CM Karunanidhi, the Opposition leaders asked him in Tamil Nadu Assembly who he lived with at Oliver Road.
Without hesitating Karunanidhi replied in Assembly: "My daughter Kanimozhi's mother."
Rajathi was not officially mentioned as his wife. Kanimozhi was born in 1968. Karunanidhi set the record straight.

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I Know My Height, 1997: Karunanidhi was the longest serving legislator in India. He won 13 Assembly elections. But he never thought of shifting from Chennai to New Delhi. There is an interesting story when he was offered to take charge as the prime minister after Deve Gowda government fell in 1997.
Some leaders of the National Front - the ruling coalition - approached Karunanidhi asking him to take reins in his hands in New Delhi. Karunanidhi ended the discussion and all surrounding speculations with a one-liner: I know my height.

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Will Not Cheat Even Jayalalithaa, 2001: While the coalition politics stabilised in New Delhi under Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA, Tamil Nadu went to the polls in 2001. Jayalalithaa had been convicted of corruption in TANSI land case. Out of jail, Jayalalithaa was seeking sympathy vote accusing Karunanidhi of political vendetta.
At an election campaign in 2001, Karunanidhi said this: Who asked her to buy the TANSI land when she was in power? Had she consulted me, as a former chief minister I would have advised her not to buy the government land. See, I am not a person who will cheat even Jayalalithaa.

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Aram Vellum, 2001: Karunanidhi was known to have the knack of presenting his best even in the worst of times. The mid-night arrest of Karunanidhi by the Jayalalithaa government, which came to power in May 2001, was perhaps the worst moment for Kalaignar.
A bunch of policemen, who had previously served under his government, dragged Karunanidhi out of his house in Chennai in a mid-night raid to police van. The video footage splashed all over television showed huge commotion at the time of his arrest.
But while Karunanidhi was being dragged, he grabbed the notebook from a reporter and scribbled: Aram vellum meaning truth shall triumph. These are the iconic words from ancient Indian scripture, Mundaka Upanishad. The Sanskrit version says Satyameva Jayate.

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Bill Gates Wants To Borrow Money From Me, 2005: Another interesting one-liner of Karunanidhi came off in 2005. Microsoft founder and billionaire Bill Gates had come to India in 2005. He met various leaders from business and politics. Bill Gates also met Karunanidhi.
After his meeting with Bill Gates, journalists asked Karunanidhi what they discussed for half-an-hour. Karunanidhi replied, "He had come to borrow some money from me."

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Was Ram An Engineer? 2007: Karunanidhi was an atheist. In 2007, he created a huge ruckus with his comments on Lord Ram. It was the time when Ram Sethu controversy was raging. Karunanidhi was in favour of the Sethu Samundram project. It required building a tunnel through what many believe was a bridge built by Lord Ram's army on their way to Sri Lanka during Ramayana age. They opposed the move.

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M Karunanidhi, the former Tamil Nadu chief minister, earned his nickname Kalaignar for his talent in the field of art, particularly storytelling in films and poetry. Kalaignar means an artist or a scholar of art. Karunanidhi preferred to be addressed as Dr Kalaignar. Karunanidhi made his reputation through his films and storytelling, and carried his penchant for punch lines to politics.